 Good afternoon colleagues. The first item of business this afternoon is portfolio questions. The portfolio on this occasion is social justice. As I already remind members, I want to ask a supplementary to press their request to speak button during the relevant question. There is quite a bit of interest in asking questions through this session, so the usual appeal for brevity and questions and responses. I call question number one, Paul Sweeney. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government what action has taken to mitigate any impact of the illegal migration act on the provision of support for refugees, asylum seekers and displaced people living in Scotland? The Scottish Government is vehemently opposed to the illegal migration act. UK Government plans to implement the act to remain unclear, which makes it very challenging for the Scottish Government to consider what action may be possible to take. We are assessing the scope of mitigations that are available within devolved competence. We continue to deliver a range of interventions that mitigate the impact of cruel and humane UK Government immigration policy. That includes through our new Scots refugee integration strategy, the ending destitution together strategy, the trafficking and exploitation strategy and the Scottish guardianship service. We recently launched our paper on migration in an independent Scotland, which sets out our approach to migration, which is based very much on the values of dignity, fairness and respect. Whilst the act is the product of the UK Tory Government, the impacts will be felt in devolved areas in Scotland, including protections for human trafficking and children. I understand that the Scottish Government has been working with stakeholders on a plan to mitigate these impacts over the summer, as the minister mentioned. Will she confirm beyond the strategies outlined in high-level what steps the Scottish Government will take to strengthen human trafficking and child protection measures, and will she set out a clear timeline for those specific interventions that are urgently required? I appreciate very much that this is an issue that the member takes great interest in. I remember him attending the illegal migration summit, which we held to explore potential mitigations at that stage. As I explained in my previous answer, without knowing the detail of how the act is to be implemented, it is very difficult for us to come up with specific measures to mitigate the worst impacts, but we are more than happy to carry on our engagement both with the member and the wider stakeholder policy area to make sure that we are on top of what we can possibly do within devolved competence. As the recent building of a new Scotland paper on migration demonstrates that the only realistic way for refugees and asylum seekers to receive the support that they need from Day 1 of arrival is with the full powers of an independent state. How transformational does the minister believe that it would be for asylum seekers to be granted the right to work in an independent Scotland? Having the right to work and without limitation to the shortage occupation list would be absolutely transformational for people seeking asylum in Scotland. We recognise that access to employment can support people to settle, integrate and enable them to use their skills and experience, rebuild confidence, expand social networks, reduce the risk of poverty and reliance on government support while contributing to our economy and our communities. Of course, Scotland has already seen an enormous valuable contribution to economy and our communities with refugees and displaced Ukrainians who have the right to work from the day they arrive or are granted refugee status. Earlier this year, we commissioned our expert advisory group on migration and population to explore the potential impacts of right to work for asylum seekers in Scotland. We expect that report to be published very shortly. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to calls from Age Scotland and others to improve plans for the new pension age disability payment by including extra mobility and travel support for recipients. I look forward to meeting Age Scotland as I share their aim to meet the needs of older people in Scotland. That is why my priority is the safe and secure transfer to pension age disability payment after launch. Although that limits fundamental changes to the existing rules, I am determined to ensure that pension age disability payment is delivered with dignity, fairness and respect. That is in sharp contrast to the UK Government that is taking money away from disabled people and threatening them with sanctions, as announced once again in the autumn statement, actions that I wrote to the DWP about on Friday. The cabinet secretary will know that a mobility component is available to disabled people below pension age in receipt of disability-linked social security such as personal independence payment and child and adult disability payment, but it is not available to those above pension age, which is arguably ages. Such a component could potentially give disabled people access to mobility schemes, automatic rights to the blue badge and an opportunity to apply for exemption from vehicle tax. Crucially, it will enhance their independence, their wellbeing and relieving pressure on other services. Surely that is something that the cabinet secretary thinks we should be encouraging. We have undertaken significant work exploring the feasibility of introducing a mobility component during the early development of PADP. Our analysis found that it could cost an additional £518 million annually. During this challenging fiscal environment, it is important for us to set out the costs of proposals that are coming forward. We also have to bear in mind the risk of deviation significantly from attendance allowance, given the fact that those in receipt of attendance allowance or PADP are automatically passported to a range of reserved benefits and premiums. That might be under risk if we deviate significantly. In saying all of that, I am keen to continue to work with stakeholders, which is why I will be meeting Age Scotland soon to discuss their campaign. A couple of supplementaries. First, Jeremy Balfour joins us online. Cabinet secretary, without a car, many older and disabled people, especially in rural areas, struggle with transportation, as local bus services are too infequent and not suitable for real-tier users, does the minister not agree that our ability to stay in these areas is now essential? Cabinet secretary, I am concerned that the audio wasn't great. Did you pick up enough for that to be able to respond? I think that I did. I began, as I did at committee yesterday, by saying that I am pleased that Jeremy Balfour is still able to take part in proceedings. I look forward to welcoming him back into the chamber soon after his operation, but I wish him well for now, as I am sure colleagues in the rest of the chamber do. I did say during my original answer that there is a significant cost to the allocation of a mobility component to PADP. I do think that that is something that we need to bear in mind, because I am sure that Mr Balfour will. When he comes forward with costal proposals, should he wish any changes as the regulations go through Parliament? Can the cabinet secretary explain what additional improvements recipients of the devolved pension age disability payment will experience compared to the DWP's attendance allowance? Despite the fact that it is difficult, particularly before case transfer, it is completed to make fundamental changes. There are still differences being made, including a more inclusive application channels, in-person support from our local delivery service and streamlining routes to set up third-party representatives. We will, of course, significantly improve the way that we work the PADP as we have done with all the benefits that we have devolved to social security Scotland. To ask the Scottish Government what single-use items will be removed from the baby box in light of the circular economy's Scotland bill. The circular economy bill will establish a legislative framework to support Scotland's transition to a zero-waste and circular economy, including measures to reduce consumption of single-use items. Scotland's baby box is providing essential items for the first six months of a baby's life. A small number of essential single-use items are provided to support the health and wellbeing of mothers and babies, such as breast pads and maternity towels. All items provided in the baby box are kept under review to ensure that they are meeting the needs of babies, parents and the latest clinical advice. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. Given the limited positive impact on new mothers and infants of the baby box as laid out in the Lancet, does the cabinet secretary believe that ensuring adequate maternity services in rural hospitals such as Murray and Caithness are available to local mums are as important? Local maternity services are important, but I am genuinely disappointed that, at a time when we are seeing more countries coming to Scotland and asking about the experience of the baby box, looking to see how they can learn from that and develop them in their own countries, we have yet to convince the Conservatives about the importance of this. That is very, very unfortunate. When you look at the evaluation of the baby box, which highlights the positive impacts that the scheme has had on families, particularly for first-time younger and low-income parents. A couple of supplementaries, hopefully briefly first. Kenneth Gibson. Does the cabinet secretary share my astonishment at the Tory's long-standing and curmudgeonly view of the baby box, and can she advise how many babies have received the baby box since it was introduced and how it is being received by parents? I hear Mr Mountain still accusing me of spin. I am sorry that quoting an independent evaluation of the baby box is described as spin, but there we go. However, Mr Gibson is quite right to point to the success of the baby box. Indeed, it is the only one that is available in the UK, and I am delighted that, since its inception, 282,341 babies born in Scotland have benefited from the baby box, and that independent evaluation of parents shows that there is a high level of satisfaction. 97% satisfaction, indeed, with the box and the contents, with 91% of families reporting financial savings, something that I am disappointed that Mr Mountain does not think is a success. I am not alone in having seen a great deal of positive social media attention directed towards Scotland's baby box. What assurances can the cabinet secretary give that the Scottish Government will continue to monitor the way that the baby box is received and ensure that it stays at the forefront of international best practice? As I mentioned previously, it is pleasing to see that there are a number of countries that are looking to Scotland to see what they can learn from that, and we look forward to working with international partners on that. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what plans it has to review property factor legislation. As I said, my written reply to the member's question in August this year, the Scottish Government has already revised the code of conduct for property factors in August 2021 to make it clearer to drive up standards and to improve transparency and consistency. There is evidence that the property factor Scotland Act 2011 is working as intended. Nevertheless, I have asked my officials to look at the operation of the property factor sector to see what more can be done to promote an on-going improvement in standards in line with the requirements currently set out in legislation. Can I thank the minister for that answer and say that my inbox is increasingly full of issues relating to property factors? From the difficulties of setting up and operating residence associations, inaccurate invoices from factors, complaints to factors going ignored and issues in relation to the costs of landscape management, it is clear that there is a growing problem in Edinburgh and the Lothians. Will the minister therefore commit to meet with me to discuss those issues more fully and look at both the legislative and other solutions that could be used to fix those issues for home owners, which I have to say, just keep increasing in number? I would be delighted to meet and say to the boy act to discuss the specific concerns that she has. There is a process in place that she knows is around about if a home owner isn't happy around about applying to the first tier tribunal for Scotland, in terms of that, but I am more than happy to pick up the specific issues and meet with the member. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. As Mr McLennan knows only too well, East Lothian and Mid Lothian are two of the fastest growing areas in Scotland, but sadly many families buying or renting in new developments are being hit by unexpected or higher than anticipated factor bills. Companies have been accused of overbilling, not to maintenance work and in some cases in his constituency of coercing and bullying residents into changing to more expensive weed-killing solutions, which weren't necessary. Isn't it time that the Scottish Government took a stand through tougher regulation and told rogue operators to factor off? Again, just referring back to my previous answer, I've asked officials to look at the operation of the sector, and I'll certainly raise the points that Mr Hoy has raised. Again, I'm happy to be with you to discuss that, Mr Hoy. To ask the Scottish Government what Scottish social security support is available for terminally ill people and their carers. Cabinet Secretary. We ensure disability benefit applications for terminally ill people are fast tax who receive the support that they deserve as quickly as possible. People who are terminally ill automatically receive the highest rates of disability assistance, and there are no award reviews awards are backdated, so people will be paid from the day they became entitled. And I can confirm that care support payment launched in three pilot areas last week is available to people caring for someone with a terminal illness and delivered nationally. That new benefit will be paid to over 80,000 Scottish carers. Members will have been moved by the Dying in the Margins Exhibition last week, which highlighted the crippling injustice and inequality faced by some of our citizens at the end of their life. Can I ask if the Scottish Government will consider making any additional support with energy bills also available to those with a terminal diagnosis? Further to that, will the Cabinet Secretary join me and Mary Curie in calling on the UK Government to give terminally ill people of working age early access to their state pension, pensions that they have paid into and are meant to be there for all at the end of life and could prevent some of them from spending their final days in poverty? I thank Ruth Maguire for this very important question that she is raising today. Recognising the pressures on household budgets, we have increased the winter heating payment by 10.1 per cent for winter 23-24. The fuel and security fund, tripled by the First Minister, is available to terminally ill people and households at risk of self-rationaling or self-disconnecting. Termally ill children receive the child winter heating payment. Unfortunately, as Ms Maguire well knows, the Scottish Government does not have control over the state pension age or issues to do with that. However, I join her in her asks of the UK Government. It is a very fair ask. I do not think, quite frankly, too much that the UK Government is able to achieve that. However, we have also called on the UK Government to urgently introduce a social tariff mechanism in relation to energy to support vulnerable consumers and to ensure that social security payments are sufficient to make people's needs. The cost of running vital medical equipment, like a ventilator, can be £26 a month, a humidifier £15 a month, an oxygen concentrator £61 a month and an air mattress can cost up to £22 a month to run. The former First Minister said that she would work to make sure that those costs would be covered. Has that happened? I can confirm that patients using home oxygen concentrators are fully embursed for the energy costs associated with running that equipment, but Mr Biggs' question was wider than that. He has raised that point with me before quite rightly. It is something he is keen to see action on and be more than happy to meet with him to discuss this in detail. I do recognise the points that he makes about the additional costs that I would say to him, though that will be required to come from the pretty much fixed budget that we have within the Scottish Government. I was pleased to lead members' business on the Dying in the Margin's report that Ruth Maguire referenced. Last week, we saw the state of caring report for 2023 that showed that there are gaps that people who are in receipt of certain income replacement benefits can't access a carers allowance supplement because they are not in receipt of carers allowance. Has the Government taken any assessment of the number of carers in Scotland, particularly those supporting someone with a terminal illness, who might be falling through the cracks in the system and the impact that it is having on them? Well, as Mr Ken Will knows, we are looking to make improvements to the carers support payment as we bring that in. Some of those, for example, at launch date, was around carers who are in full-time education. We are, of course, looking to do more on this issue, and I am again happy to work with Mr O'Kane to hear more about the situations that he has talked about today. That may, of course, have to be done after the case transfer is complete, but it is something that I take very seriously. We are keen to make sure that we are doing everything to support carers, particularly those who are supporting someone with a terminal illness. To ask the Scottish Government what recent correspondences it has with the UK Government regarding any impact on its housing policies in Scotland of local housing allowance rates. Freezing local housing allowance amounted to an estimated cut of £819 million over three years. It dramatically reduced support for low-income households in the private rented sector, putting people at risk of homelessness. The minister wrote to the UK Government, urging them to reconsider the freeze in May and November this year and to previous Secretary of State each of the previous three years. It is deeply frustrating that the UK Government has taken so long to reverse this damaging cut, which, sadly, we have all seen the consequent damage from. We sincerely hope that the freeze is never considered again. While the end of the UK Government's three-year freeze on local housing allowance rates is welcome, there is no denying that this policy led to a brutal shortfall between housing benefits and the actual cost of renting a home, as proven by the Chartered Institute of Housing. Does the minister agree that the autumn statement simply does not go far enough to support financially stretched tenants in Scotland, leaving it to the Scottish Government yet again to pick up the pieces and mitigate against Tory welfare cuts? I would agree that the autumn statement does not go far enough and hinders the efforts of the Scottish Government and our core mission to tackle poverty and prevent homelessness. An estimated £819 million has been lost due to the three-year LHA freeze. The Scottish Government is spending £84 million on discretion housing payments this year alone to mitigate bedroom tax and benefit cap. We will continue to support those impacted by damaging UK Government welfare cuts. However, if we did not have to spend so much mitigating these, we could further invest in anti-poverty actions to better support Scottish tenants. 7. Stuart McMillan, who joins us remotely. Thank you, Presiding Officer, to ask the Scottish Government when it last met the GBC to discuss the impact of deep population on the greener GBC constituency. In addition to the Scottish Government-Cosla population policy round table, which comprises all local authorities, we have undertaken extensive engagement with depopulating west coast local authorities throughout the development of our addressing depopulation action plan, which has formed a key part of a wider programme of both official and ministerial level engagement to informed plan. Most recently, officials met with the chief executive of Inverclyde Council on 8 November as an opportunity for Inverclyde Council to further shape and provide feedback on its draft contents in advance of publication. Thank you for that reply. The minister is very much aware of the depopulation challenge that Inverclyde has faced and will continue to face, as the projections indicate, that this is only going to worsen over time. Even though decisions taken by local government have a role to play in making people want to stay or relocate to an area, the Scottish Government also has a role. Does the minister agree with me that all public bodies should consider, as a first principle, Inverclyde to be the destination for future investment to help to address the decline? The Scottish Government acknowledges the distinct challenges that Inverclyde and some other urban areas in Scotland are experiencing in relation to population decline. That is why urban depopulation is one of the, quote, components of our forthcoming addressing depopulation action plan. We are working with Inverclyde Council to support the design and delivery of key interventions that will support people to move to or continue living in the local area, and we will look to be led by local priorities in deciding the shape of that work, upholding the principles of the very house agreement during the first phase of a targeted programme of work to address depopulation. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking with Social Security Scotland to help with the heating costs of households in the north-east. I refer members to my register of interests regarding energy supply. We will invest £22 million in our new winter heating payment to provide targeted reliable support to people most in need of help with their heating costs each winter. That includes those on a low income who are disabled, have young children or are older. That is in addition to our child winter heating payment, which is only available in Scotland and provides families of severely disabled children and young people with much needed financial support to help to mitigate the additional heating costs that they face in the winter months. Both winter heating payment and child winter heating payment have been upgraded this winter by 10.1 per cent in recognition of the on-going pressure on household budgets. Alexander Burnett, I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Last December, the United Kingdom experienced its coldest day since December 2010, with Braymar, the coldest place recorded. My constituents now only received the one-off winter fuel payment of £55.5P when previously they received around three times more under the UK's cold weather payment. Communities across the north-east have already experienced snow this year, and this payment will do nothing to support them with their energy bills. Will the cabinet secretary reform the winter fuel payment to bring it in line with the support provided by the UK Government? The member is asking us to take money away from people this year. I will give an example. In 2021-22, 11,000 people qualified for the DWP, and that totaled 325. Mr Lumsden, I have warned you about sedentary interventions. Could you please be quiet? I will start again. 11,000 people received the DWP version of this in 2021-22. That totaled 325,000 pounds in 2022-23. 394,135 people benefited from the social security version of this payment. That is an investment of just under £20 million. In effect, in the year that this was devolved last winter, 10,000 winter heating payments were made to people in Aberdeenshire alone. That is pretty much what the Conservatives managed to pay for the whole of Scotland in the last year that they were responsible for the benefit. Winter heating payment recipients will begin receiving support in the coming weeks with a reliable winter payment that does not rely on erratic weather conditions as the DWP's cold weather payment did. Can the cabinet secretary lay out how many more households are likely to benefit from the devolved Scottish system this winter compared to the old system? Some of this I have just laid out, so I will stick to the very important summary, that this is something that people can depend on under the Scottish Government, unlike under the DWP and the UK Government. That is because we recognise that there are many people in low incomes who suffer fuel poverty and need some extra assistance, but that is exactly why there will be around 400,000 individuals with an on-going investment of £22 million that the Scottish Government is putting into this over this winter. That concludes portfolio questions. There will be a brief pause before we move on to the next item of business to allow front benches to change.